Phineas' Other Family
by geninkitty
Summary: It's Father's Day, and a 15 yr old Phineas is curious: who is his real dad? Adventure insues, and his question, along with many others, are finally answered. Some Phineas x Isabella A two-author story written by Geninkitty and HarryPotterFanGirlForever
1. Who's My Daddy?

Chapter 1 – Who's My Daddy?

_Phineas' POV_

My whole life turned around all because of that day.

It was a sunny day in June, another day of summer vacation. I woke up to bright sunshine coming in through the window in me and Ferb's room. A moment later, the alarm clock next to my bed went off.

A pretty typical day. How summer days always started, ever since we were ten. The summer we actually got into inventing and building the craziest contraptions we could think of. And this summer was no different.

Well, some things were different. When I look in the mirror, I don't see the little ten year old from that summer, and neither does Ferb. We've both 15 now, and definitely a lot different than when we were younger. Though Ferb is still taller than me, at 5' 6'', I only trail him by a about 4 inches. My hair is still an orange mess on my head, and my face still looks similar. Same with Ferb, and his hair is still green.

Our personalities are pretty much the same, except Ferb's sorta broken out of his shell, and he's way more social; he's not a one-line kinda guy anymore.

We've changed the clothes we wear all the time, too. Orange still dominates my wardrobe, with mostly polo shirts and sweaters, and the occasional t-shirt; I still wear blue shorts all the time, but obviously not the exact same ones; I'd outgrown them awhile ago. Ferb still wears purple all the time, but substituted his beige shirt for a purple one with a Union Jack on it, and he's switched to jean shorts.

Ferb interrupted my thinking with his yawning – he still got up a minute or two after me. We crawled out of bed and went downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast with mom and Candace. Perry was still sleeping in his bed in the corner, and dad was on a business trip in New York.

After breakfast, we went out to the backyard under our thinking tree. Just like all our previous summers. However, our inventions lately aren't as big and amazing as they used to be. While we used to build roller coasters and ski lodges, now we focus more on smaller things, like locators for finding lost stuff. Not that we don't build water slides and things like that, but when we do, we usually just keep it at a smaller scale and only invite a few kids instead of the whole neighborhood.

So here we were, thinking of the day's invention, when Isabella walked in with her usual "Whatcha doin'?"

Izzy's changed over the years, too. Though she's still shorter than Ferb, she's at my height again; I swear she's got an inch on me. Her hair is much longer now, and due to her growth spurt her bow is much too small. She attached it to a headband and wears that instead. And she's ditched her usual pink dress for a light pink blouse and a darker pink skirt.

Her personality changed a bit, too. She used to be this little 'girly girl', if you ask Buford, but she hated people thinking of her that way and now tries to be more tomboyish. She's still part of the Fireside Girls, and she joined the girls' field hockey team last year. She also doesn't just give out threats like when we were 10; she actually carries them out. But you can still see the girlish side to her, because everything she owns is still pink.

I still call her Izzy like when we were 10. She's my best friend that isn't related to me (Ferb is my best friend that _is_), and the nickname thing makes me feel like we're still close; that's one of the things that definitely hasn't changed over the years: how close we are.

Anyway, back to what was happening.

We noticed that she wasn't that cheerful today. She had a fake smile on her face.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked.

She sighed. "'Cuz I hate this time of year."

"But I thought you loved summer?"

"I do," she explained, "but I hate this _day_."

That was confusing; what's so weird about today? It's just a regular summer day. I told her so.

She sat down next to me. "It's not a regular day, Phineas. Today's Father's Day."

Oh, now I got it. Father's Day was always a tough time for Izzy. She hasn't had a dad since she was really little, and no one knows what ever happened to him, not even Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro.

I gave her a hug to comfort her. "That's alright, you can hang out with us for the day. We'll help you deal with you know what."

Her face turned pink a bit. Funny, I don't remember her wearing makeup. She hugged me back. "Thanks, I really needed that." She sighed. "I just thought maybe it would get easier each year, but it doesn't, not really."

It was while we were sitting here talking that the thought came to mind. Isabella and I are kinda alike, in the dad department. Obviously I have Ferb's dad, so technically he's my dad, too. But what about my biological dad? Come to think about it, I don't think I've actually ever seen him before.

That bugged me. Izzy could remember her dad from when she was 3, at birthday parties and things like that. But I couldn't remember anything at all.

And now I wondered why I'd never thought of it before. The whole stepdad-stepbrother thing pretty much dominated my time when mom got married, so I never thought to ask after that. And I was too young to think about stuff like that before time.

Curiosity got the best of me yet again, and I told them what I was thinking. At first, I though Izzy might be a little sensitive to the subject, but she seemed to be listening intently as I spoke my thoughts.

When I finished, Ferb said, "If you're really interested, I'm sure mum could tell you."

"Yeah, if anyone would know, it'd be your mom," Izzy added. She must have forgotten for the moment that when she asked _her_ mom the exact same question, she didn't get an answer.

"You know, you guys are right. I'm gonna go find mom." I stood up from my spot, as did Ferb and Izzy. We headed inside, bumping into Candace on our way.

Candace is 21 now and has been going to state college. But she gets vacation time once in awhile, hence her being home that weekend. She looks pretty much how we saw her when we went in the future, but she's her regular 5' 8''. She's also still intent on 'busting' us - which she still hasn't succeeded in doing, and mom is still oblivious - but has calmed down a bit since she left for college a couple of years ago.

"Watch where you're goin', guys!" she said as we breezed by her. We skidded to a stop.

"Sorry Candace! Hey do you know where mom is?" I asked, all in one breath.

"Umm…probably in the living room," she replied.

We all ran towards the living room, shouting thanks to her as we left. We found mom in the living room, like Candace said, watering one of the plants in the corner. She saw us come in and smiled.

"Hey boys, Isabella. What are you up to today?" she asked.

I knew this was my only chance to ask, because if I waited too long dad would be home and she may not want to tell me in front of him. I gathered up my courage and asked her,

"Mom, I want to know about dad. My _real_ dad."

Her smile faded and she dropped the watering can in her hand.


	2. Story Time

Chapter 2 – Story Time

_Phineas' POV_

Mom just stood there with this shocked look on her face. Ferb ran into the kitchen to grab paper towels, while me and Izzy picked up the watering can, looking uneasily at her.

Ferb came back with the towels, with Candace at his heels.

"What the heck is going on in – Mom?" Candace stared at our mother's dazed face. She turned to us. "What did you guys do to mom?" she asked angrily.

"I…I just asked mom who was our dad. Then she froze," I said.

She looked at me strangely. "What do you mean, "who was our dad"? Dad's in New York, remember?"

I shook my head. "Not Ferb's dad. _Our _dad. Just yours and mine."

Her angry face vanished, replaced with one of understanding. She glanced back at mom, who seemed to be finally getting back to her usual self.

"Umm…gosh, I knew this day would come. Okay, let's go sit over on the couch," she said sort of dazed. We sat next to her, me and Izzy on her right, Candace and Ferb on her left.

"I wanted to wait until you were both old enough to handle the truth. And I guess this is as good a time as ever."

She took a deep breath. I glanced over at Candace, who seemed as clueless as I was.

"A long time ago, long before either of you were born, I met a man in high school. He was very nice, and one of my best friends. When I was about 17 we decided to become more than friends, and we began dating."

"We fell in love with each other, and we dropped out of school and got married. We were so happy together, and I felt I'd made the right choice with my life. But then…one night…well, I won't give you all the details because I still think you're too young, but I got pregnant."

"With me?" interrupted Candace.

Mom wrapped her in a hug. "Yes, with you. I was so happy that I'd have a little baby of my own." She kissed her on her forehead.

"Everything seemed alright, he seemed happy enough that you'd be coming along." Mom sighed. "You made me the happiest girl in the world when you came along, you were my whole world. I knew you needed a sibling to play with, and I wanted a little boy as well. So, 6 years after you were born, I became pregnant with-"

"Me!" I interrupted.

Mom wrapped me in a hug, like she did with Candace.

"It was perfect. I had a loving husband, the cutest little girl, and a baby boy on the way. My life seemed absolutely perfect." She smiled at her memories.

Then her face turned grim. "But then, before Phineas was born, I found out my husband was cheating on me with another woman. He had been since Candace was 2. And I couldn't bring myself to forgive him, because I didn't know if I could trust him again. So we divorced." Mom's eyes filled with tears at this. All four of use leaned over and gave her a big hug, which seemed to calm her down enough to continue.

"Well, it was just me, Candace, and unborn Phineas. I found this cute little home, not too small, not too big, in a nice neighborhood with friendly neighbors, all with kids Candace's age, and mothers expecting."

"Where was this place, Mrs. Flynn?" Izzy asked.

She smiled. "Why, here, of course! Your mother lived across the street waiting for you to be born, and Jeremy and Stacy's mothers lived just down the street. It seemed a perfect spot to take care of my children."

"Of course, I still was upset about what had happened with my husband, and I thought I would remain a single parent. But then, I met Lawrence, Ferb's dad."

I saw Ferb smile from across the couch.

"We dated, and I fell in love again. I was more careful this time, because I wanted to make sure I didn't repeat the past. He was so nice and loving, though, and it was easy to trust him. We got married, and I met his son Ferb," here she patted Ferb on his head, since she couldn't reach him for a hug, "and you all know the rest."

The four of us sat here, thinking about all she'd said. So mom and my real dad got divorced before I was born. _That's _why I can't remember him.

Everything seemed alright, but I still needed to know something.

"Mom, do you know whatever happened to him?" I asked.

"I honestly don't know, Phineas. He could be anywhere by now. Oh, wait! I just remembered. He sends child welfare every few months for the two of you. Though I never really took time to look at the return address…" She stared off into space, thinking to herself.

I fidgeted a little impatiently. "So…did you get a check this month?"

She snapped out of her thoughts. "Oh…well, I haven't checked the mail yet. It should be coming in any day now, though."

I jumped up from the couch. "I'll be right back!" I called as I raced from the room to the front door. I ran down out walkway to the mailbox and flung the hatch open. I searched through the mail for anything that might be from my real dad.

Bills, bills, mom's Penny Shopper, bills, half off at Mr. Slushy Dog, bills, bills, check, bills, bi-wait, check?

I pulled the check out of the pile and stared down at the return label. _Danville, USA. _My heart stopped. He actually lives in Danville and I never knew it?

I quickly ripped open the envelope to get to the name on the check. It had a platypus print on it. Platypus? I thought mom and dad were the only ones who used that.

Pay To The Order Of: Linda Flynn (mom's name was written in sloppy writing, almost unreadable)

Total Amount: $150 (so that's where all our money for our projects comes from!)

Signed: Heinz Doofenshmirtz

Who the heck is that?


	3. Making Connections

Chapter 3 – Making Connections

_Phineas' POV_

Doofenshmirtz…doesn't ring a bell at all. Which is kinda weird, 'cuz I thought I knew everyone in town already.

Leaving the rest of the mail on the sidewalk, I ran back to the living room, where Mom, Izzy, Ferb, and Candace were still waiting on the couch.

"Did you find the check?" Ferb asked me.

I sat down back in my spot next to mom. "Yeah, and it says he lives right here in Danville."

"Danville? What're the odds of that?" Izzy asked, really to no one in particular. Ferb whipped out his calculator and began punching numbers in. Finally he said,

"About one in a quarter of a hundred million."

We all stared at him. They probably wondered how he could do that entire math; _I _was wondering how we turned up to be that one outta a million-something.

Izzy snapped out of the staring bit first. "Well…what's his name?"

"Oh. It says 'Heinz Doofenshmirtz'. But I've never heard of him."

Candace perked up at this. "Wait, did you say 'Doofenshmirtz'?"

"Yeah, why?" Could Candace know someone I don't?

"Give me the check," she said. I passed it over to her. She stared down at it, apparently trying to remember something.

She suddenly let out a gasp. "I know this guy!" she exclaimed.

"Wait, WHAT? How? Who is he?" The four of us pretty much said it all at once.

"He's my friend Vanessa's dad. Vanessa's my roommate at college. He's shown up a few times at fundraisers and stuff."

I was nearly jumping outta my seat. "Well, what does he look like? Like us?"

Candace shook her head. "He's kinda tall, with brown hair like Vanessa. And he always wears this white lab coat."

White lab coat…somehow, that sounded oddly familiar.

"Hey, do you have a picture of him somewhere?" I asked suddenly. Candace nodded and ran off to her room to retrieve it.

Now where have I seen a white lab coat? Was it some guy at the park? Or…maybe he was the hotdog vender guy. I just couldn't put two and two together.

Candace came back then with a picture in her hands. "I took this at the last fundraiser. Vanessa wanted a picture with her dad, and she gave me a copy." She handed the picture to me, then sat back down.

Mom, Izzy, and Ferb leaned over me to see the picture better. Like Candace had said, he looked pretty tall, except he looked like he was slouching for some reason. He had spikey brown hair, and a big white lab coat over a black shirt. A girl in black, most likely Vanessa, was standing next to him.

This was bugging me even more, 'cuz I _knew_ I had seen this guy before. But where?

I glanced to my left at Ferb.

"Hey Ferb, does this guy look familiar to- hey dude, you okay?" I originally wanted to ask him if he looked familiar, but that was before I realized how pale he looked. "Ferb, what is it?"

Everyone turned to Ferb then. His face was as white as a sheet, and his pupils were really small. He seemed to be trying to answer me, because he opened his mouth like he was going to speak.

Instead, he fell over.


	4. Do You Mind Explaining This?

Chapter 4 – Do You Mind Explaining _This?_

_VANESSA'S POV_

This weekend is going to be, as far as I know, a regular, normal weekend. Well, as normal as it can get, since it's dad's weekend with me.

Not saying I don't love my dad, but the whole evil thing is just, well, _not _normal. How mom can't see it is beyond me.

Mom just dropped me off at dad's, so now I'm just sitting here on his old couch watching him build…whatever it is he's building. I only know two things about it: one, it's evil, and two, Perry the Platypus is gonna show up eventually to stop him.

This is actually the first weekend in awhile that I've actually been at one of my parents' house. I've been at college for the past couple of years, and vacations don't come along very frequently. When I was younger, I would have given anything to just get out of the house, and I would've enjoyed college. But I've learned over the years that I'd rather be watching my dad be evil than studying for another exam.

Speaking of the years, a lot has happened since I was sixteen. For one, I'm much taller, and my hair is a lot longer. I ditched my usual 'goth' clothes, ever since I realized it really isn't me, but I still wear black a lot. But besides getting over my 'goth' phase, my personality hasn't changed too much. And neither has our family arrangement. I still spend the weekends I have off alternating between mom and dad. I guess it's not that bad, since I get to see both of them.

Anyways, dad's still building his "inator" thing.

"Vanessa, could you get me my socket wrench?" dad asks me. His head is buried in the engine of his invention.

"Where'd you leave it?"

He raises his head out of the engine. "Umm…I'm pretty sure it's in my room somewhere."

I cross my arms. "Your room? Why would one of your tools be in your room?"

He just shrugs and goes back to work.

That's one thing you can always count on my dad for: leaving his stuff in the weirdest places.

* * *

It took forever finding the wrench, but I got it. For some reason, it was hiding in his closet. Not the best place to keep your tools, if you ask me.

Something caught my eye while I was rummaging through his stuff for the wrench: a bright red photo album. Normally I wouldn't have gone through it, since I've seen all my baby pictures before, but mom and dad never showed me a red album, even when they were still together.

I sat on the edge of dad's bed and opened the album. It didn't seem to have been opened to recently, because dust flew everywhere when I opened it.

Two names were engraved on the inner part of the front cover.

_Heinz and Linda Doofenshmirtz_

'Linda'? Who the heck is Linda???

_Doofenshmirtz's POV_

This stupid new –inator is taking forever to build. I still have no clue what it's supposed to do. The blueprints say it has something to do with a laser, but that's it. And I can't finish it without the socket wrench.

I lifted my head and was about to call out to Vanessa when I saw her some in the room.

"Hey, Vanessa, did you find it?" I asked her. I noticed she was hiding something behind her back. "What have you got there?"

She just stared at me. "Dad, who's…Linda?"

My heart skipped a beat. "Eh, no one, no one at all!" I laughed nervously. "Wh-why do you ask?"

She brought the thing behind her back out in front of her for me to see. It was my red photo album. _THE _photo album.

"Dad, you don't have to hide anything from me. Who is Linda?" she asked again.

I sighed. Obviously she wasn't going to drop the subject. "Alright. I guess you're old enough to know the truth. Follow me."

I lead her to my bedroom, and we sat down on my bed. She placed the album on her lap, and looked at me expectedly.

"When I was in high school many years ago, I met the most wonderful girl I'd ever met in my life. Her name was Linda Flynn. We got to know each other, and eventually we fell in love. I was careless back then-"

"Not to interrupt, Dad, but you're still kinda careless now, too," Vanessa pointed out. I gave her a look, and she smiled.

"…Anyway, we dropped out of high school and got married. And not long after that, Linda got pregnant. At first, I was thrilled with the idea of having a baby. I was really excited when I found out the baby was a little girl."

Vanessa's face went from interest to complete shock. "Dad, this…Linda girl, she isn't my…"

I knew where she was going with this. "No, she's not your mother; you come into the story in a moment."

She relaxed a little, probably because she knew at least that the parents she knew were definitely hers.

I continued the story. "Well, sweetie, I did a bad thing. I realized I wasn't ready for a baby yet, and I was scared, because I wasn't sure if I could take care of the baby AND Linda. So, a couple years after the baby came along, I began dating your mother behind Linda's back." Vanessa's eyes widened, which I expected as much. "But, again, I was careless, and your mother became pregnant with you. Now, don't think I regret you coming along, because I don't. I was just scared then, and felt I'd made a mistake."

"It turns out I made a third mistake; when my other daughter was six, Linda became pregnant with a boy. And not long after that, she found out about me and your mother. She divorced me, and took the girl with her."

"Since I was no longer married to Linda, I went back to your mother and we married. But not long after you were born, your mother found out about my previous marriage and why it ended, and she divorced me as well."

I sighed. "Well, now you know everything."

Vanessa seemed speechless. She sat there with the album in her hands, and eventually she opened it to the first page. There was a photo of Linda and I, with our daughter wrapped in a blanket in her arms.

"So…this is her?"

I nodded. "And this," I pointed to the bundle, "is your half-sister."

"Dad, how long has it been since you've talked to Linda?" she asked.

I thought on that for a moment. "Not since we went to court for the custody arrangements. But I do send her child welfare checks every month."

She sat there for a moment, then something seemed to click. "Wait, you said her name was Linda _Flynn_?"

I nodded.

"Dad, quick, do you remember my half-sister's name?" she asked.

"I'm pretty sure it's Candace or something. Linda named her. Why?"

Vanessa started hopping up and down in her seat. "Dad, I know her! I know her!"

"WHAT?" I asked, totally dumbfounded. They already know each other?

"Yeah, Candace is my roommate in college! I can't believe it, my best friend is my half-sister!"

She was still hopping like mad. I put my hands on her shoulders to keep her dad. "Geeze, I've never seen you so energetic before!"

She stopped abruptly, apparently embarrassed. "Sorry, I'm just so shocked, I mean, I would have never guessed that I had a half-sister, let alone her being my best friend." She stood up. "I gotta go call her!"

"Wait," I said, holding her back. "She probably doesn't know it, either. If she hasn't said anything before, then Linda hasn't told her the truth."

She stopped trying to pull away. "Yeah…I guess you're right. But I can't _not_ tell her, I mean, she has a right to know, right?"

I sighed. "Alright, call her or MyFace her or whatever you call it. Just be calm about it, don't rush or you might scare her."

She gave me a hug. "Thanks dad!" She ran off in search of her cell phone, leaving me to sit and think.


	5. Wait, You Already Knew?

Chapter 5 – Wait, You Already Knew?

_Vanessa's POV_

I ran back to the couch, grabbed my cell phone, and punched in Candace's number for a new message. I left her a quick text:

**Vnessa D** Candy txt back quik its an emergency!!!

I sat there impatiently waiting for her to text back. I was so excited, I could barely stop myself from bouncing up and down on the couch. Finally, after what seemed like forever, I felt my cell phone vibrate in my hand. I flipped open the top and read her message back.

**CandygirlFlynn** Wats up Vanessa?

My fingers couldn't seem to text fast enough to answer her.

**Vnessa D** I just learned the most amazing thing, u wont believe it!

**CandygirlFlynn** OMG so did I! u first

I smiled to myself. Candace's 'most amazing things' were usually half price shoe sales. I knew I'd blow her out of the water with mine.

**Vnessa D** Don't spaz out, but my dad just told me that we're HALF SISTRS!!!

**CandygirlFlynn** …OMG that's creepy cuz my mom just told me the same thing a min ago O_o

I practically dropped my phone. Seriously, what are the chances that both our parents happen to tell us on the same day that we're related? Is that even possible?

As if she could see my expression through the phone, she texted:

**CandygirlFlynn** lol NOW whos spazing? ;b

**Vnessa D** Candace do u realize wat this means???

**CandygirlFlynn** THAT WE'RE SISTRS!!!

**Vnessa D** I nevr even DREAMED of having a sistr, much less it being u!!! & I mean that in a good way lol

**CandygirlFlynn** OMG I need 2 c u, can u come ovr?

**Vnessa D** let me go ask my dad, brb

I dropped the phone back on the couch and ran back to my dad's bedroom. He was still sitting on the bed where I left him. I looked up when I came in and smiled.

"So, what'd she say?" he asked.

"She just told me _her _mom told _her_ the same thing!" I blurted out.

His face was full of shock. "Seriously? Wow, what are the chances of that?"

"That's what I thought! She just asked if I could go over to her house." I gave him my best puppy dog face. "Can I go dad, please?"

To my relief, he nodded and handed me his keys. I grabbed them from him, gave him a hug, and rushed back out of the room.

I was finally gonna see Candace. Though now not as my friend; now I'd see her as my half sister.


	6. Meeting My Half Sister

Chapter 6 – Meeting My Half Sister

_Phineas' POV_

That was…odd.

Normally Ferb's not the type to overreact to _anything_, yet there he was, flat on his back and knocked out cold.

We eventually got him awake, sat him back on the couch, and got him a glass of water. He assured us he was fine, but he wouldn't tell us why he fainted in the first place. I didn't think much of it.

Candace had come running in the room then, waving her cell phone in the air.

"MOM! MOM! MOM!!!" she cried, the way she always did when she got excited.

"What is it Candace, we're kinda busy here," Mom replied, putting a cold towel on Ferb's forehead.

"I was just talking to Vanessa, and she's coming over!"

Mom dropped the towel and gasped.

"Wh-what? She's coming NOW!?!" she stuttered.

"Yeah!" she replied, not realizing that Mom was freaking out. "Isn't that awesome!?"

Mom sat down next to Ferb. "No, Candace, it's not awesome. I mean, I never even met the girl before, and now I find out she's coming here?!" Her faced looked panicked. "One question. Is Heinz coming with her?"

She looked down at her cell phone. "Hmm…give me like 2 seconds…no, just her."

Mom sighed in relief. "Good, I don't think I'm ready to see him again just yet."

Wow, I guess this Heinz guy hurt Mom pretty bad. She's usually so calm, nothing like this.

"So, how long until she gets here?" Izzy asked suddenly.

Candace thought on that for a moment. "Well, she said she stays at her dad's house every other weekend, and it's his weekend, and his house can't be more than, like, 10 miles from here, so…I don't know, maybe 5 minutes?"

Mom looked around the room. "Well, the house looks alright. How about we take care of Ferb while we wait."

We all looked down at Ferb, who seemed to be getting back to normal. We gave him another glass of water, and then we all sat on the couch waiting for Vanessa to show up.

I used this time to think, like I do with most of my free time. I still couldn't figure out why Ferb would have fainted when he saw Vanessa and that Heinz guy in the picture. Maybe he'd seen him around town somewhere, like me, and overreacted a bit. That was the only explanation that made sense in my mind.

My thoughts were interrupted once again, this time by a doorbell. Mom seemed to try to compose herself, and then got up to answer the door; Candace followed her. Izzy, Ferb, and I remained in the living room.

Even though I couldn't see what was happening, I could hear bits of conversation from them. I wasn't paying close enough attention to get much out of it, though.

"…how's your vacation been?"

"…love your house…"

"...nice to meet you…"

Eventually after introductions between each other, I heard Mom say, "Come in, how about we all go to the living room?" The three of us on the couch perked up at this. I glanced over at Izzy and Ferb. As usual, Izzy didn't seem very anxious or worried about meeting her. Ferb on the other hand…well, he looked pretty bad. And boy, was that the understatement of the year. He was pale again, and I could have sworn he was shaking.

Mom, Candace, and Vanessa came in then. The three of us stood up. Mom pointed out each of us for Vanessa, starting with Izzy.

"This is Isabella, our neighbor from across the street," she said. Izzy smiled and said hi, and Vanessa smiled back.

"And this is Phineas, my son. And technically your half brother." I looked up at Vanessa. She looked exactly like she did in the picture, though somewhat taller in person. I felt a bit shy suddenly, and I felt myself smile timidly at her. Why I felt shy, I don't know. I'm usually the kid who's the first to introduce myself to someone new.

"And this," she said finally, gesturing to Ferb, "is my stepson Ferb."

Ferb didn't look up, just stared at his feet. Vanessa, however, was looking right at him.

"Say…don't I know you?" she asked suddenly. Ferb looked up, but still didn't say anything.

Vanessa suddenly got excited. "I _do_ know you! We met like five summers ago! At that really big mall nearby."

I looked over at Ferb, waiting for him to say something. I know he's quiet, but he still answers when someone talks to him directly. Yet now, he didn't say anything. And I could swear he was getting paler by the second.

And just like that, he was on the floor, out cold, all over again.


	7. Getting To Know Said Half Sister

Chapter 7 – Getting To Know Said Half Sister

_Phineas' POV_

I think Ferb had too much sugary cereal for breakfast this morning, because I've never seen my stepbrother faint, not even once.

Again, we woke him up, gave him a glass of water. He seemed rather embarrassed that he fainted, probably because it was in front of a stranger. Though, they seem to know each other from the mall, though I've never seen her before in my life. I think it's because the last time we were at the mall, I was kinda distracted by the massage chair. I can't help myself, it was SO comfortable!

Anyways, we were all sitting in the living room talking, while mom was in the kitchen making some snacks.

"So, Candace tells me you guys like to build a lot?" Vanessa asked. Ferb, as usual, didn't answer.

"Yeah, ever since we first met, we've been building stuff," I replied.

"And it's everyday they make something new. I can only imagine what you guys made while I was gone," Candace added, rolling her eyes. She's still regretting not being here year-long, because according to her, that's about a hundred more inventions she's missed, and double that of what mom has missed.

I nodded. "We re-dug the hole to the center of the Earth the Phinadroids and Ferbots had made, found Biff for the millionth time and made him a tracking device, had Baljeet's birthday party on Jupiter, and we're planning on building flying water skis next Tuesday" I said, counting out on my fingers.

"Whoa. Candace wasn't kidding about you guys. You seem to make more stuff than my dad does!" Vanessa said. "Well, technically _our _dad…"

I took this opportunity to learn more about my real dad. "So, what's dad like? He's an inventor?"

"You could say that…more of an evil inventor, but nevertheless an inventor," she replied. She fished around in her black trench coat and pulled out what looked like a TV remote. "He made this years ago. It's supposed to be called 'The Away-inator'. It makes things disappear." She handed it to me, and as I examined it mom came into the room with a tray of cookies. I passed it to Ferb, who after checking it out passed it to Izzy. Candace looked over Izzy's shoulder at the device, then got a strange look on her face.

"Wait a sec, let me see that!" Candace said, grabbing it and not waiting for Izzy to hand it to her. "Maybe THIS is what's causing your inventions to disappear!"

Vanessa thought on this for a moment, then said, "Well, dad's inventions do sometimes shoot randomly out through the window."

Candace stared down at the Away-inator. "You've caused me a lot of grief, you know that?!?" she yelled, shaking her fist at it.

We all just laughed. Even Ferb, who up until this point hadn't said a word.

Mom shook her head. "Such imaginations, you guys. So, how's your dad?"

Vanessa shrugged. "Eh, he's fine, evil as ever."

Mom sighed. "Still after the tri-state area, I see." The rest of us got weird looks on our faces. 'After the tri-state area'? What in the world could that mean?

Ferb actually spoke up at this point. "What do you mean by that?" I glanced over at him, and noticed he wasn't shaking anymore, but he was still a little pale.

"Oh, when we were younger, he told me he wanted to rule the world. But he didn't think he could do it, so I told him to start small, like with just the tri-state area. I never imagined he'd actually go through with it though," she explained.

"Oh, yeah. He went through with it. It's day after day, nothing but one evil contraption after another. And my mom doesn't believe me for a minute," Vanessa sighed.

Candace smiled. "Which is one of the reasons we're such good friends. Mom doesn't believe me about your contraptions, and her mom doesn't believe her about dad's evil contraptions." How easily she could now say 'dad' and mean the father we never knew.

On the contrary, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea of Ferb's dad not being my dad, too. I've called him my dad for the longest time, it's hard to switch people when I think 'dad'.

"So how long are you going to be visiting you dad, Vanessa?" mom asked.

"Oh, just for the weekend. I switch with him and my mom whenever I'm home on weekends, but I stay at my mom's during the week. She lives in Danville, too."

That puzzled me. Did we not know her either, like Heinz? Or did we know her and just never think about it?

"Wait, what's your mom's name? Maybe we know her from somewhere," Isabella asked. That surprised me, because I was about to ask Vanessa the same thing.

"Charlene. She still kept the name 'Doofenshmritz'. She actually lives here in Danville, too," Vanessa replied.

Mom started choking on her cookie. "'Charlene'? I know a Charlene! And she lives here in Danville!"

"Do you think it's the same person? What does she look like?"

"Umm…dark hair, purple glasses, usually wears a green shirt?"

Vanessa practically jumped out of her seat. "That's my mom! How do you know her?!?"

"She was my cooking partner. She said she had a teenage daughter the last time I saw her, but I didn't realize she meant _you_!" mom exclaimed.

Mom stood up then. "Um, I'll be right back. I have to…go to the bathroom," and she left.

The five of us went on talking, learning more about each other. Ferb seemed back to his usual self, but he didn't look at Vanessa at all. I thought maybe he was just being shy, but a shrugged any thoughts other than that off. It didn't really matter; he'd have plenty of time in the future to really talk to her, if we kept in touch now that we knew where she lived. Mom still hadn't returned from the bathroom.

Vanessa glanced down at her watch after awhile, as did I. It was about 3 in the afternoon, which surprised me, because it seemed like only a moment ago that it was noon.

"Oh shoot, I gotta get home. My dad's probably worried." We said our goodbyes, grabbed her keys and left.

Izzy, Ferb, and I stayed on the couch; Candace was leaning against the wall, her arms crossed. No one really said much. I myself was starting to get worried about mom.

"Hey, why hasn't mom come back?" I asked to no one in particular.

"She's probably just trying to clear her head. Sort stuff out, you know?" Candace said, shrugging.

I shook my head. What could she mean by that?

"Ugh, as naïve as ever, Phineas. If you just learned the person who your husband cheated with on you was you're half daughter's mother and your cooking partner, how would you feel!?" she asked me, sighing at the fact that I hadn't got it.

But now I did, and I felt bad for mom. I know I'd probably never experience it myself, but what happened to her must hurt a lot.


End file.
